The National Interest: The attacks on US forces in Syria embody Washington’s turbulent policy in the Middle East

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Lamon: It is China and Russia that are now helping to stabilize the Middle East, and even support American interests.

An American writer described the attacks on American forces in Syria as embodying Washington’s turbulent policy in the Middle East, and called on it to re-evaluate this policy to achieve its most vital national interests.

Writer Adam Lamon, an expert on Middle East affairs, spoke on article On the American National Interest website, about the American presence in northeastern Syria, saying that the recent Iranian attacks on this presence are a final reminder that the United States is still at war in Syria and that American soldiers there are in danger.

Ambiguity of goals

He added that the vague goals of the United States there do not indicate that it is closer to leaving Syria than it was when it put its soldiers on the ground for the first time, indicating that the officially declared goal of America’s entry there, which is to combat the state organization, was to obscure American efforts to confront Russia and Iran in Syria. .

He explained that Americans in Syria face real dangers from Iranian militias, government forces, and Russian Wagner forces, and that President Joe Biden’s administration has pledged to continue defending 900 American soldiers in Syria as long as they remain in the country.

Lamon said that while Biden moved to end or reduce the US’s “endless wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq, this policy did not extend to Syria. Instead, Washington declares that it is ostensibly committed to fighting the Islamic State and putting pressure on the Assad regime.

America is no longer the only option

Nevertheless, according to Lamon, Washington realizes that Damascus is no longer isolated as it was in the past, and it has converged with many countries in the region recently, and the agreement brokered by China, which caused a breakthrough in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, is expected to lead to more The shift in geopolitics in the Middle East, and will further affect regional elites who have realized that they have options outside America to advance their political and security goals.

The writer said that China and Russia are now helping to stabilize the Middle East, and even support American interests. China portrays itself as a friend of all and an enemy of none, allowing it to position itself as an honest broker who can address the region’s problems in ways that Washington cannot. Russia is also seen as a reliable partner—one that has stood by its Syrian ally through thick and thin—and an interlocutor that has proven sensitive to the needs of capitals as diverse as Damascus, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, and Tehran.

The Middle East is for everyone

On the other hand, – the writer says – America’s record is more turbulent, as it is the one that invaded Iraq 20 years ago, and unleashed chaos and violence throughout the region, and it is the one that unilaterally detonated the international nuclear agreement with Iran after the administration of former US President Barack Obama dragged Its regional allies with all their might to support the agreement, and it is it that later refused to defend Saudi Arabia and its Arab partners, which prompted Riyadh to later reconcile with Tehran, not to mention the fact that Washington has oscillated between withdrawing from the region and siding with it throughout 3 presidential administrations.

Lamon concluded his article by saying that the Middle East is large enough for the United States, Russia and China, especially that Beijing has a great interest in regional stability so that it can continue to import energy resources in the region.

He called on Washington not to interpret all Russian and Chinese measures as coming at its expense, warning it that its role in the region will not diminish, but rather change. Therefore, according to the author, she must realize that she should not and will not be able to try to do everything in the Middle East on her own.

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